Blinking Tip of the Day

Recently I was giving fellow contributor Steph some tips on how not to blink in every single picture she has taken. Being a habitual picture blinker my whole life, I could sympathize with her. Over the years, I've developed some strategies that work for me. First of all, most people make the subconscious mistake of trying to keep their eyes open during the entire focusing-please-smile-stop-giving-her-bunny-ears! process. By the time the flash comes, your poor dry eyes are overdue for a good blink. This is why you'll see me blinking like a crazed woman who's trying to morse code a very a long message to the person manning the camera. It's all about timing, however, and you have to pay close attention to what the cameraperson is doing. If you're not being distracted, you should be able to tell right before they actually take the picture. If it's a false alarm, resume your blinking pattern while they take the lens cap off or yell at the guy in the back row wreaking havoc. Right before they take it, the blinking ceases, and I make sure to relax my face into a normal pose. If there's anything worse than eyes closed, it's looking like you're trying too hard to keep them open. If you take these steps, when the flash comes, you should be all blinked out. After all you really only need to concentrate on keeping them open for a split second... it's all about prepping for and focusing for that second.